jari at age 19 - Philip M. Fearnside - Inpa

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TABLE IIROTATIONS AND YIELDS OF SILVICULTURAL SPECIES AT JARIWeightharvested BarkRotation with bark (% drySpecies (years) (m tons/ha) weight)Gmelina arborea 4 45-50 20Eucalyptus deglupta 4 60-70 10Eucalyptus urophy/la 4 66-80.5 20Pinus caribaea 9 120-130 24-25TABLE IllWOOD GROWTH BALANCE AT JARIWood yieldArea (m tonslhalSpecies (ha) year) (a)Gmelina arborea 17,227 9.5Pinus caribaea 28,123 5.25Eucalyptus deglupta 14,471 14.625E. urophylla, E. urograndis& E. pel/ita 14.499 14.65Other commercial &experimental plantations 725 14.65 (c)TOTAL 75,200 9.92(a)I b)(c)Midpoints of ranges in Table II.Guess (50% of E. deglupta value).Assumed equal to E. urophy/la value.CALCULATION OF SHORTFALLMill requirement = 3000-3500 m tons/day of chips(midpoint = 3250 m tonslday)Annual requirement (allowing for 2 week shutdown for repairs)351 days x 3250 = 1,140,750 m tons of chips (dry weight)Annual shortfall = 1,140,750 - 951,435 = 189,315 m tons of chipsNative woodsupplement(% of mix)504020 (b)20 (b)Shortfall from plantation sources = 189,315 x (1 - 0.156) = 159,782 m tonsAdditional plantation area needed (at present configuration and yields)159,782 1 9.92 m tonslhalyr average yield = 16,107 haExpansion needed as percentage of present plantation area =16,107 ha 1 75,200 ha = 21.4% increasepurities in Gmelina cause less problemsthan do the black ones in E. deglupta.The density of E. degluptaat Jari is lower than that of Eucalyptusin Brazil's Central-South Region.To avoid the lower quality pulp thatwould result from using its E. degluptain pure form, J ari has developed a mixof native species that includes 40% "capitarf(Tabebuia insignis, BIGNONIACEAE).Wood yield(m tons/hajyear)9.0-10.013.5-15.7513.2-16.15.0-5.5Total wood(plantation &native)(m tons/year)172,270147,646352,730265,51313,276951,435The supplement of wood from nativeforests also significantly reduces the costof supplying the mill's requirements forchips.Jari had 1847 ha ofabandoned E. deglupta as of February1986. These stands had apparently beenplanted on inappropriate sites; no planshave been made for conversion of theareas to other uses.Eucalyptus urophyllaThe Cylindrocladius fungusattacks E. urophylla, but trees arenot killed and growth reduction is apparentlynot great. E. urophylla suffersless attack than does E. urograndis. Currentlythere is more Cylindrocladius onthe Amapii side of the Jari River thanon the Para side; some of the staff ascribethe difference to heavier clay soil on theAmapii side.A bacterial disease causedby Pseudomonus solonacearum has appearedin E. urophylla, mostly in youngtrees. The bacteria attack the roots ofthe trees; the leaves turn yellow and thetree dies. The technical staff firstobserved symptoms in 1984. Since thattime the disease has spread but has notreached alarming levels.A lepodopteran larvaattacked E. urophylla in 1985, but damagewas reportedly not serious. A microhymenopteranattacked part of one block(Block 35) in 1985, but has not increasedsince. Neither of the insects hasyet been identified.E. UrograndisE. urograndis is a hybridof E. urophylla males and E. grandisfemales produced by interbreeding inopen plantations. Since the crossfertilizationis not done under strictly controlledconditions, the "E. urograndis" standscontain a scattering of individuals of theparent species in addition to the hybrids.E. urograndis is themost susceptible to the Cylindrocladiusdeslupario fungus of the major commercialEucalyptus species at Jari. Theeffects are worse in the young trees. Theattack is worse in the rainy season. Thefungus slows the growth rate of the treeswithout killing them.Eucalyptus cancre (thefungus Diaportha cubensis) is the Achilles'sheel of E. grandis. Cancre attack isnot evident in the hybrid at Jari.E. pellitaJari has E. pellita on asmall scale: 64 ha were planted in 1983(in parcels spread throughout the estate) ,but Jari's managers are now postponingfull commercial-scale planting until theysee the effects of the Cylindrocladiusfungus. In one 12 ha plot of E. pellita16% of the trees were attacked in thefirst year, and some trees died. Nevertheless,in 1986 the experimental parcelsin the estate were augmented by an additional200 ha.ll\7fR[/ffi[lfl JAN- FEB 1988, VOL. 13 N9 115
B) Experimental Plantation SpeciesJari's ability to weatherfuture biological problems will be largelydetermined by the availability of alternativesilvicultural species. Adequatetesting of potential species, carried outat the site, is the best means of minimizingthe risk of an inappropriate choice.The following species are under testing:E. grandis: Jari installeda 14 ha experimental planting of E.,grandis from a location in Australiabelieved to be similar to J ari. Trees fromthis procedence are thought to offer agood chance of resisting the cancre thatoften attacks plantations of this species.Finding alternative Eucalyptus species isa sufficiently high priority at J ari that14 ha of one-year-old commercial pineplantation were sacrificed to install theexperiment in 1985.E. camaldulensis: Althoughthis species is sometimes used forpulp (United States, NAS 1980: 126) theonly potential use for it at Jari would befor firewood. Despite enthusiasm amongthe research staff under Ludwig and goodgrowth in experimental plantations(Fearnside and Rankin, 1982), thespecies is no longer under considerationfor commercial plantation due to poorpulping characteristics.E. tornelliana: This speciesgrows well at Jari, quickly shadingout the undergrowth. However, it is nota good pulping species and only can beused for firewood.E. brassiana: Growthsince testing began in 1984 has not beengood.E. pillularis: A test plotof this species planted in 1985 is tooyoung to be evaluated.Pinus oocarpa: Thisspecies has poorer growth than P. caribaeain the first two years but thencatches up and grows faster. P. oocarpamust be maintained with more thoroughweeding than P. caribaea until it reachesa height of two meters (in approximatelytwo years). P. caribaea can surviveeven if left in a heavily weed-infestedstand with only the tips of the treesshowing. P. oocarpa often starts itsgrowth lying down or in other ways thatproduce poor form. It also has morebranches and side sprouts near theground. The staff consider P. oocarpa tobe more susceptible to the Cylindrocladiusfungus than is P. caribaea. It alsohas high variability in the growth amongindividual trees - not a good characteristicfor plantations, but one that allowsrapid genetic selection. P. oocarpa basSourceTABLE IVSUPPLEMENTARY WOOD SOURCES AT JARI (1985/86)Deforestation for plantationsEMBRAPA experimentsCapitari (Tabebuia insignis)Purchase of Pinus caribaea chipsTOTAL (103 m tons)PERCENT OF TOTAL PULPWOODNote(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)Aproximateweight (103m tons/year)26.250.548478188.79(a) Approximately 3000 ha felled for plantations in 1985. Average wet weight biomass oflogs = 350m tons;ha (Feamside and Rankin, 1985: 125), or approximately 175 m tons/hadry weight. The dry weight pulped per hectare felled is approximately 8.75 m tons, since5% of the species arc used for pulp; these species are assumed to represent the samepercentage of harvested biomass. This is consistent with the 10% of biomass used forpulping in 1983 (Fearnside and Rankin, 1985: 125) when twice the present number of specieswere used for pulpin~:.(b) total amount harvested = 18 x 103 m3; average density = 0.6; assume 5% used as innote (a).(c) 4 month Eucalyptus run ( = 120 days) x 700 ~ tons capitari/day.(d) 390 x 103 m tons chip demand (From Table V) x 20% supplied from purchases (1985;86value).(e) 1,140,750 m tons for operation at full capacity (see Table III).the advantage of very little foxtailing ascompared to P. caribaea. The species isconsidered a potential option for commercialplanting should a change be desirable,but J ari has no immediate plansfor such a change.Anthocephalus chinensis:This species, which had been growingwell in an experimental stand on fairlygood soils (Fearnside and Rankin, 1980),died mysteriously in 1984 at an age ofapproximately six years. No diseasesymptoms, insect attack, or other problemswere evident.Casuarina: Testing ofthis Asian legume was enthusiasticallyinitiated under the previous managementin about 1979. The species is only usabfefor firewood. Experiments are not continuing."Para-Para" (Jacarandacopaia): This native species has goodgrowth but requires relatively fertilesoil. Many but not all trees are attackedby Hysipyla shootborers (pit mothlarvae) (Fearnside and Rankin, 1980).Small-scale experiments continue."Mungubeira" ( Bombaxmunguba): Experiments that were initiatedshortly before the end of Ludwig'stenure have not been pursued. Mungubeirais a native of the Amaz:Onianvtirzea and grows well there.17%"Taxi Preto" (Triplarisfilipensis): A 1 ha plot of this nativespecies was planted in 1985. The youngtrees suffered some damage by grasshoppersand ants.To summarize the statusof the search for new species, both exoticand native, Jari has a number of speciesunder testing, a few of which have givenreasonably positive results at the site. Nospecies is currently attractive enough tosuggest any likely changes in the choicesfor commercial plantations over the nextfew years, but some are sufficiently welladapted that they could be called uponshould biological problems arise that arehighly damaging to Pinus caribaea or thecurrent Eucalyptus species. No such safeguardexists in the case of J ari's hallmarkspecies: Gmelina arborea. No nativespecies are under serious considerationfor commercial planting.C) Silvicultural ManagementOne casualty of the costcuttingmeasures during Jari's financialsqueeze has been the recycling of some ofthe pulp mill's residuals to the plantations.In the long term the outflow ofnutrients through biomass harvesting,soil erosion and other pathways must be16JAN- FEB 1988, VOL. 13 NQ 1 ll\7fR(Ifl\(ltl
Page 1 and 2: INI'ERCIEN::IA 13 (.1) : 12-24 (.19
Page 3: TABLE IPLANTATION AREAS AT 1ARI lal
Page 7 and 8: Although the plantationswere begun
Page 9 and 10: TABLE VIPROJECTED WOOD AVAILABILITY
Page 11: enough wood to supply its pulp mill

jari at age 19 - Philip M. Fearnside - Inpa

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